Here we go again! It seems that I just can't get enough of
Pokemon these days, as I just cleared my third solo run in a row and am still left wanting more. When and where will this
Pokemon rampage stop? I have no idea; but as for my Oshawott solo run of
White, it ended up in the most glorious fashion after roughly 18 hours of fulfilling play. I finally wrapped up that unfinished business with the Elite Four and the Champion and wiped the floor with them all. They couldn't stand the assaults of my Lv.100 Samurott, could they? No, they couldn't. Still, they put up quite a fight, and I had to use an uncanny number of Full Restores during both Elite Four showdowns. My verdict regarding the solo run-friendliness of the resident
Black/
White Water Starter goes as such: Oshawott is undeniably a better choice for a solo run than
Purrloin, yet he remains undeniably inferior to his
Diamond/
Pearl counterpart
Piplup. What you can expect when cruising around with the samurai otter alone is a neatly balanced solo run, neither too painfully hard nor too boringly easy.
To my utter delight, this solo run of
White was much more pleasant that my recent solo run of
Black. The in-game weather played a huge part, as Spring Unova is definitely cosier and more welcoming than Winter Unova; and since I knew what to expect from Unova as a whole, I was not repulsed anymore by its urban and slightly barren vibe. Heck, I even came to love it to some extent! Not only is industrial Unova a pretty consistent region in its own right, but it also brings some welcome variety to the Pokemon region pool. I also tolerated Cheren and Bianca a lot better after figuring out that their behaviour had a symbolic meaning tied to the game's overall message: Bianca and the obvious limitations that she's forced to acknowledge embody the Truth, while Cheren and his drive to succeed and be the best at all costs embody the Ideal. That doesn't make them lovelier or more likeable, but their polarized and seemingly unreasonable behaviours are not as hard to swallow once one knows that they are supposed to be personifications of concepts rather than
kawaii sidekicks.
Although I'm racking my brain in search for something to add, there is really nothing more to say; and that's not too surprising, given that I already wrote two full reports about
Black—one about my
Purrloin solo run and one about my
overall impression of the game. I will thus leave it at that, even though it makes that post look more like a glorified footnote than like a true run report. My Oshawott solo run was a jolly good one that somehow reconciled me with the Fifth Generation as a whole, and I'm now more thrilled at the prospect of playing
White 2 and
Black 2 than, say, at the end of my solo run of
Black. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
"yet he remains undeniably inferior to his Diamond/Pearl counterpart Piplup. "
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Although, it's hard to compete with a Water/Steel Typing and also the Piplup line has a better movepool, having access to STAB Steel moves like Steel Wing.
And the fact that you managed to enjoy Black/White a lot more than last time is already a great thing!
Water Starters as a whole are great choices for solo runs, but Piplup is undeniably the king of them all... Or should I say the emperor? ^^ Jeez, I was so fond of his final evolution too! It was undeniably stylish, and a nice pun on his species to boot.
DeleteTo make him a Water/Steel hybrid was a great idea, since it gave him a truckload of resistances and a wider movepool. Fun fact, by the way: during my Oshawott run, I was totally unable to beat Frillishes with the "Water Absorb" ability. Like, I couldn't even scratch them! That cursed "Water Absorb" sucked in the water attacks of my Oshawott, and since he's a pure Water type, I had no other special attacks at my disposal. And since Frillishes are immune to physical attacks, I had no choice but to run away or let my entire team be wiped out and then carefully avoid the involved Trainer. Can you imagine what would have happened if any of the Gym or Elite Four Leaders had owned such a beast? Heck, my whole solo run would have been destroyed!
Indeed, I'm happy that I enjoyed Black/White a lot more than last time! Let's be honest, I don't want to dislike any Pokemon entry if I can avoid it. Every game deserves a second chance, especially Pokemon games! ^___^
Oh wow, that situation sounds horrible. Why didn't you just stick an Ice Move on your Samurott or just leave it with Fury Cutter? Or, as last resort, just give him a Hidden Power and pray it's a Ghost or Dark Typed attack or something that at least hits Ghost types.
DeleteI had gotten rid of Fury Cutter a long time before that, since I never anticipated that I could lend in such a situation; as for Hidden Power, I didn't have it in my inventory. Given that the issue was restricted to a couple of easily avoidable trainers, I didn't bother giving my Oshawott an Ice move, but I would obviously have resorted to that option otherwise! :) All in all, it was a pretty interesting situation and an instructive experience.
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